Sr. Associate Manager, Restaurant Excellence

KFC•Irvine, CA

12d•Hybrid

About The Position

Taco Bell is a global brand with over 7,500 restaurants worldwide, part of Yum! Brands. They are known for being inclusive, bold, and challenging the status quo. The Associate Manager, REV People & Labor Product & Operations Strategy Lead role bridges restaurant operations, business strategy, and product development. This position focuses on translating operational challenges and business goals into clear product direction, partnering with technical product managers and field operators to ensure labor management systems drive business impact. It's a high-leverage role focused on defining problems, shaping strategy, and ensuring product investments lead to operational and financial outcomes.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent years of experience
8+ years of experience in product management, strategic decision-making, influencing, and presentation creation capabilities
Experience with Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Adobe
Experience performing data analysis and business case development
Self-motivated individual who adapts readily to change, is empowered to make quick and effective decisions, and seeks feedback.
Capable of working independently and leading conversations and project efforts with minimal assistance and feedback.
Strong communication skills.
Process-driven problem solver: ability to analyze complex situations with multiple factors and make key decisions.
Employment eligibility to work with Taco Bell in the U.S. is required as the company will not pursue visa sponsorship for this position.

Responsibilities

Develop deep expertise in restaurant labor operations, including scheduling, staffing, compliance, and labor cost management.
Identify and prioritize high-impact operational pain points through field engagement, data analysis, and stakeholder input.
Translate ambiguous operational challenges into clearly defined problem statements with measurable success criteria.
Define the strategic vision for labor management operational & business capabilities in alignment with company goals (e.g., margin improvement, efficiency, scalability).
Partner with TPMs to shape product roadmaps based on business value, ROI, and operational impact.
Establish guardrails and principles for product solutions (e.g., flexibility vs. control, automation vs. manual workflows).
Act as the primary liaison between operations, business leadership, and technical product teams.
Provide operational context and validation during product design and development.
Partner with TPMs to ensure product solutions account for real-world complexity, edge cases, and adoption risks.
Foster trusted partnerships across franchise leaders and home office teams to understand evolving business needs, establish shared expectations for product solutions, and ensure successful execution against agreed-upon objectives.
Define rollout strategies and oversee change management in partnership with operations and product teams.
Collaborate with franchise leadership and corporate teams to plan, execute, and evaluate solutions, ensuring stakeholder alignment on objectives, timelines, risks, and outcomes.
Champion franchise engagement throughout the innovation lifecycle, ensuring field perspectives are incorporated into testing plans and change management activities to maximize adoption and business impact.
Ensure alignment of incentives, processes, and expectations to drive product adoption.
Measure and monitor business impact (e.g., labor allocation, productivity, schedule accuracy, compliance, ease).
Travel to test markets (approx. 15% -25% travel) to collect feedback, measure impact, and inform on future prioritization.
Iterate on strategy based on performance and feedback.
Leverage data to quantify problems, validate hypotheses, and assess product impact.
Partner with analytics teams to define key metrics and reporting frameworks.
Drive a culture of outcome-based decision-making rather than feature-based delivery.

Benefits

Hybrid work schedule (onsite expectation Tues, Wed, Thurs) and year-round flex day Friday
Onsite childcare through Bright Horizons
Onsite dining center and game room (yes, there is a Taco Bell inside the building)
Onsite dry cleaning, laundry services, and carwash
Onsite gym with fitness classes and personal trainer sessions
Up to 4 weeks of vacation per year plus holidays and time off for volunteering
Generous parental leave for all new parents and adoption assistance program
401(k) with a 6% matching contribution from Yum! Brands with immediate vesting
Comprehensive medical & dental including prescription drug benefits and 100% preventive care
Discounts, free food, swag